There has been much speculation about the psychological and mental health of Presidents Putin and Trump. Both powerful and power-hungry, with very strong opinions, they seem headstrong and reluctant to take advice. These characteristics fill some people with fear.

It is not our place to assess the mental state of leaders put in place by God, because:

…the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will

Daniel 4:25

These words were spoken to the powerful Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who had to endure a period of near insanity in order to learn their truth.

Centuries before, a powerful Pharaoh refused to accept the power of God. When Moses and Aaron asked him to let the Hebrew slaves leave Egypt, he responded:

Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.

Exodus 5:2

God then sent plagues on Egypt. Through five of the ten plagues this stubborn man ‘hardened his heart’, and doggedly refused to let Israel go (Exodus 7:13, 7:14, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32). Pharoah’s magicians, who could not mimic the plagues after the first two, tried unsuccessfully to reason with the stubborn despot: “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). But Pharaoh seemed ‘crazy’.

Eventually God Himself hardened Pharaoh’s heart in order to show His supreme power (Exodus 10:1).

But there was more to all of this. God had said to Pharaoh:

But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Exodus 9:16

And after the tenth dreadful plague, Israel escaped from Egypt in the great ‘exodus’. Pharaoh was utterly powerless against God. God was in control and His purpose was fulfilled (Exodus 7:4-5).

We can be sure that God will also deliver and save those who trust in Him today. No leader, whether mad or not, can thwart the purpose of God in saving ‘His people’. So the message is clear. We need not fear any world leaders. God is greater than all of them and is even working through them to save those who trust in Him. We need to obey and serve God to the very best of our ability.

There are several powerful and influential people in the world. Global crises face us and leaders try to intervene. President Trump exerts a lot of influence, but President Putin is a force to be reckoned with. Recent peace talks about Ukraine seem to have reached stalemate. Many people are worried. Who is in control?

The simple answer is that nobody on earth is actually in control. The God of heaven is in control. But this requires some explanation.

The fact that God is in control most certainly does not mean that He orchestrates everything and that we are all puppets or robots. We have choice. Nor does it mean that He approves of everything that we do. For example, God did not control king David to commit adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11). And God was not pleased. The record simply says:

But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD

verse 27

And then the prophet Nathan described to David the enormity of what he had done, and the implications for him (2 Samuel 12:7-14).

On other occasions, however, God does prevent people from sinning. He protected Sarah, Abraham’s wife, from being seduced by Abimelech. God said to him,
…it was I who kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore I did not let you touch her (Genesis 20:6).

Even so, we can never know when we will be able to carry out our plans, let alone whether they will succeed.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand

Proverbs 19:21

Without doubt, nothing is too hard for God. He posed the rhetorical question:

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?

Jeremiah 32:27

But God always does what is right: He will never go against His perfect moral standards (Deuteronomy 32:4).

He has a purpose for the earth. He has a plan of salvation for men and women who try to obey Him. And absolutely nothing can thwart Him.
…so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11).

To this end He controls world affairs in ways that we do not and cannot comprehend. He ensures that the rulers are who He wants.

…the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men

Daniel 4:17

By implication, He oversees major political decisions.

True, there are wicked people and awful things happen. God does not always intervene. But He is still ‘in control’. There is no opposing force like Satan or the Devil with evil power. There is no single example in the Bible where God is not in control.

The faithful will be saved. They may suffer wrong in this life, but their salvation is guaranteed. While they are not protected from all physical harm (Luke 21:12), God does protect them. Paul reassured believers in Corinth:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it .

1 Corinthians 10:13

So, we should not fear what world leaders do. We should fear and serve God. For no human being has been, or ever will be, in control. The God of heaven is in control, and our allegiance must be to Him.

We recently experienced a widespread internet outage. Then, soon afterwards, another one. Such occurrences are annoying and inconvenient, but can also be very serious. For example, the economic consequences can be far-reaching. Few of us understand how the invisible internet system works, the meaning of ‘DNS error’ (deemed responsible on at least one occasion), or how truly interconnected our world has become. As with many things, we tend to take it all for granted until something goes wrong. But we surely realise that it is complex, and that these outages can cause disruption to thousands of services worldwide, affecting millions of people. The system is only as strong as its weakest link, piece of kit or coding. Nevertheless, despite all this, we tend to trust it and rely on it.

Our world is becoming ever more unstable in many ways. This should not surprise Bible students. A time of great trouble is predicted before Jesus returns to establish God’s kingdom on earth in a reign of peace (Daniel 12:1-3; Luke 21:25-28). A formidable time of distress and confusion is described in picture form in the ‘apocalyptic’ book of Revelation.

In the past God has intervened causing chaos and confusion, and foiling human systems in order to bring about His purpose. Examples are: the flood (Genesis 7), plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7:14-12:32), and battles (Judges 4:12-16). We cannot usually tell whether a disaster is a natural consequence of human error or His intervention. But as the all-powerful God He is certainly capable, if He so decreed, of causing widespread chaos far worse than any recent internet outages.

God is also invisible to us. We cannot understand how He works. But He is always there. He never slumbers or sleeps. He is always totally aware of what is happening in the world, and can see in our hearts and minds. He never lies. He is all-powerful, and nobody can thwart Him (Psalm 90:2, 121:4; Isaiah 14:27). There can never be an ‘outage’ of Almighty God. With Him there is no unreliability: nothing to break, fail or wear out. No weak link.

Nowadays, however, people seldom think much about God. His blessings are taken for granted until there is a crisis. In life-threatening situations people often resort to prayer. Of course, God hears all prayers. But there is no guarantee that He will answer them. The Bible contains chilling examples of God refusing to heed prayers. He refused to respond to king Saul of Israel (1 Samuel 28:6), to David’s enemies (Psalm 18:41) or to faithless Israel (Isaiah 1:15): and He even told His prophet Jeremiah not to pray any more for Israel (Jeremiah 7:16).

So where do we put our trust? In fallible human beings or in the Almighty creator and sustainer of the universe (Psalm 146)?

One day human systems will end for ever, and God will rule. We need, right now, to totally trust in, and rely on, the God of the Bible.